President Obama got a little weepy as he thanked his young campaign staff in Chicago: "I'm really proud of all of you." YouTube

November 9, 2012

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The video: President Obama's re-election campaign has released a video showing the president giving an emotional thank-you to the young campaign troops at his headquarters in Chicago on Wednesday morning. Obama told the staffers that they were part of the best campaign team in history, and, wiping tears from his cheek, the president hailed the crowd of 20-somethings as being way ahead of where he was at their age. "You're smarter [than I was], you're better organized, you're more effective. So I'm absolutely confident that all of you are going to do just amazing things in your lives." He continued: "What you guys have done means the work that I'm doing is important. I'm really proud of that. I'm really proud of all of you."

The reaction: "Who says President Obama lacks emotion?" asks David Jackson at USA Today. This is the second time in a week that Obama has teared up publicly; he also choked up in his last campaign speech, in Iowa, where a win in the state's caucuses started him on the road to victory in his first bid for the White House in 2008. Still, the image of a weepy Obama is so jarring that this video is destined to go viral, says Mark Memmott at NPR. You don't see "no-drama Obama" get this emotional very often. This is indeed "a rare glimpse at the president unplugged," says Devin Dwyer at ABC News. "During the first four years of his presidency, Obama has never been seen publicly crying." He didn't show it, but, underneath, Obama was clearly as worked up about this election as the rest of us.